Long Shot | 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Chapter 8

Slowing down as we grew nearer to the compound, the headlights on the vehicles lit up the few stray citizens as they bolted from the street and back into the shadows. After we had drove a little further up the road, a group of men with guns came into view, but unlike the people from before, they weren't scared off by the headlights.

The men shouted things at us as they waved for us to turn around with their hands, but of course we had no idea what they were saying. "We're three-hundred yards from the front gate, Chief, but there's a roadblock." I heard Rone's voice over the radio.

"Are they friendlies?" Bob asked. "Feb 17?"

"Chief, trying to assess, but no one's wearing fucking uniforms here."

Slowly, following Jack and Rone's lead, we one by one started to get out of the vehicles. "Come on." I waved for Amahl to follow me out of the jeep.

Amahl was hesitant at first, but when Tanto stepped up beside me and also waved for him to get out, he seemed more relaxed by the idea. "Come on." Tanto helped Amahl out of the car, stopping halfway to carefully direct Amahl's gun out of his face. "I didn't get here late just to die in friendly fire. Use your gun. Find out who the commander is and get this organized quick."

Amahl looked back at us like a scared toddler on their first day of kindergarten. "Go. Go." Tanto encouraged him with a small thumbs-up and a comforting smile.

Trusting our orders, Amahl slowly walked towards the men with guns, who by now had stopped yelling and were all watching us like a cast of hawks. When he had gotten close enough, the man in the front stopped him and the two shared a few words back and forth. However, before any real progress could be made, a yellow car whipped around the bend in the road; it's music blaring as it too came to a stop.

The men with guns started to yell at them as well, but then, out of nowhere, a bullet pierced through the chest of the man that Amahl had been talking to and everything went to shit in a matter of seconds. As bullets started to fly, I felt Tanto push me back a little so I was covered by the open car door.

"Amahl, get cover!" Rone yelled.

War broke out between the two groups of citizens and all we could really do was stay safe and watch as men collapsed all around us. Finally, as the gunfire died down and the men moved on, we were left alone in the dark ally. With the roadblock still preventing us from going any further by car, we were forced to group up and take the last three-hundred yards by foot.

"We're pushing forward." Rone announced as we took cover behind a wall that was maybe a meter and a half, two meters tall; bullets grazing the buildings around us all the while. Tucking low, I checked to make sure I still had my back-up pistol just in case, and did a quick sweep of the area, making sure to pay close attention to the spots where the shadows hid what was really going on.

Skidding tires caught my attention and I peeked over the wall just in time to watch as a vehicle crashed into the curb. The women in front started to scream as they turned to look into the backseat, where two young children were sitting with a small dog between them. We waved for them to keep moving, and with a jolt, the car took off down the road once more.

"Eight to ten Tangos, front gate." Jack informed us as he eyed the gate with his scope. The street in front of us was filled with smoke, and the flickering orange lights shining down from the street lamps didn't help with visibility in the slightest.

Tanto, who was watching our rear, huffed. "fifty-fifty these guys turn on us and end this now."

"Tanto! Let's get up high." Boon called over a small burst of gunfire from somewhere close.